Luca Vitali

Luca Vitali (born May 9, 1986) is an Italian professional basketball player who plays for Basket Brescia Leonessa of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).

For the Italian motorcycle racer, see Luca Vitali (motorcyclist).

Luca Vitali

No. 7 – Basket Brescia Leonessa
Position	Guard
League	LBA EuroCup
Personal information
Born	(1986-05-09) May 9, 1986 San Giorgio di Piano, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Listed height	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Listed weight	85 kg (187 lb)
Career information
Playing career	2003–present
Career history
2003	Virtus Bologna
2003–2004	Montepaschi Siena
2004–2008	Sutor Montegranaro
2008–2009	Olimpia Milano
2009–2011	Virtus Roma
2011–2012	Virtus Bologna
2012–2013	Vanoli Cremona
2013–2014	Reyer Venezia Mestre
2014–2015	Vanoli Cremona
2015	Herbalife Gran Canaria
2015–2016	Vanoli Cremona
2016–present	Brescia Leonessa
Career highlights and awards
LBA assists leader (2017) LBA champion (2004) 3× LBA All-Star (2006, 2014, 2015)

He's a versatile player who can play as a point guard, shooting guard or small forward, defending on nearly any opponent thanks to his height and wingspan.[1]

Professional career

Progressing through the youth ranks of home town club Virtus Bologna he unusually made his debut for the team in Europe's premier competition, the Euroleague, playing a few minutes in 2003.

He would make his first division debut the next year after moving to Montepaschi Siena, then the strongest side in Italy.

After playing little part in their championship winning season he dropped down a division to join LegaDue club Sutor Montegranaro. This proved to be a fruitful move for both sides, he became a starter, helped promote the club to the first division in 2006 and then on to the play offs, his good performances even led to a call up to the league All star game.

In 2008 he was recruited by ambitious club Armani Jeans Milano with which he rediscovered the Euroleague, he was instrumental in the progress of Milano to the Top 16, scoring a team European record 32 points against Panionios to finish third in their group.[2] However Vitali's time at Armani Jeans ended on a sour note when the club cancelled the last 2 years of his contract, he then joined rivals Lottomatica Roma.

After two years in Rome followed by a brief return to former youth side Virtus Bologna he joined Vanoli Cremona. There he flourished, becoming an undisputed starter for the team and having career best figures in nearly all areas, helping his team escape relegation.[3]

Wanting to play for a stronger side he joined ambitious Umana Venezia, there he had a mixed season, his talent obvious but his play not always consistent. This brought him to return to the club where he had the most personal success, Cremona, where he was appointed captain.[4]

On May 18, 2015, Vitali signed with Herbalife Gran Canaria until the end of the 2014–15 ACB season.[5] In July 2015, he returned to Vanoli Cremona.[6]

Career statistics

Euroleague [7]

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	PIR	Performance Index Rating
Bold	Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG	PIR
2002–03	Virtus Bologna	2	0	3.30	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0	-1
2003–04	Montepaschi Siena	2	0	2.15	0.0	100.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1,5	-1
2008–09	AJ Milano	13	8	24.19	44.8	44.4	91.4	1.4	2.3	0.6	0.0	10.9	8
2009–10	Lottomatica Roma	6	1	19.55	33.3	29.4	100.0	1.0	1.0	0.2	0.2	5.2	1
2010–11	Lottomatica Roma	10	0	19.08	38.9	40.0	63.6	1.8	1.6	0.9	0	6	4.7
Career		33	9	13.65	23.4	42.32	51.0	0.94	0.98	0.34	0.04	4.72	2.34

International career

After a period with the under-age Italian team, Vitali joined the senior national team from 2007.

He was regularly called up from there on but remained a fringe player, part of Italy's FIBA EuroBasket 2013 squad, he played sparingly. He started commanding more game time in EuroBasket 2015 qualification that saw Italy qualify for the tournament.[8] He was called up to the preliminary squad for EuroBasket 2015,[9] but was injured during the tournament preparation and had to leave the team before the main tournament.[10]

Personal life

He comes from a basketball family as his brother is fellow player Michele Vitali with whom he played one season for Virtus Bologna and presently for the Italian national basketball team, their parents were also players.[11]

References

1. "Luca Vitali - Profile", Eurobasket. Retrieved on 16 March 2015.
2. Skountis, Vassilis. "Panionios On Telecoms - AJ Milan / Report."Euroleague, Athens, 14 January 2009. Retrieved on 16 March 2015.
3. Valenti, Stefano. "Basket, the rebirth of Vitali: "At Cremona I'm enjoying myself and winning"."la Repubblica, 18 March 2013. Retrieved on 16 March 2015.
4. "Basket Serie A, Cremona retake Luca Vitali."Corriere dello Sport, Roma, 18 July 2014. Retrieved on 16 March 2015.
5. "El Herbalife Gran Canaria incorpora a Luca Vitali" (in Spanish). CB Gran Canaria. 18 May 2015.
6. "Luca Vitali signs a two-year contract with Vanoli Cremona". Sportando.com. 4 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
7. "Vitali, Luca - Stats", Euroleague. Retrieved on 15 March 2015.
8. "Luca Vitali", Federazione Italiana Pallacanestro. Retrieved on 15 March 2015.
9. "NBA quartet to lead Italy at EuroBasket". FIBAEurope.com. 29 June 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
10. "Luca Vitali si ferma per 30 giorni, Poscic lascia il ritiro" [Luca Vitali rested for 30 days, Poscic leaves the camp]. VanoliBasket.com (in Italian). 24 August 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
11. "Luca Vitali - Profilo", Legabasket. Retrieved on 16 March 2015.